


You Already Know

by NightmareWolf



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Dreams and Nightmares, Other, Symbolism, Weird Plot Shit, idk?????, this reads like a fever dream
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 23:50:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19486498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightmareWolf/pseuds/NightmareWolf
Summary: This time, something was off.





	You Already Know

**Author's Note:**

> ok this story is kind of weird. I always wanted to write a different, poetic and symbolic story so...here?? It's also very headcanon based and shit as always, so it probably wont make sense to too many people. That's where the symbolism comes in baybe, so make of it what you will :) ok thats it seeya

He had been here more times than he could count. A scenario that always played in his head on loop, and he was thrusted right back into the middle of it.

Everything was quiet; Edd couldn't remember the last time anything was this eerily silent. Of course, for as oddly silent as it were, it was all too familiar. The dull, life-sucking grey walls; the white floor tiles speckled with grey and blue; the navy colored lockers lined up in never ending rows; the cafeteria, as dully colored as the rest of this building, yet the silence here felt more noticeable and out of place; the black and orange gym with its tauntingly tall bleachers and basketball racks that seemed to stretch on forever. This room—this gymnasium—was the only place to harbor any sort of noise. Once inside, the deafening silence was replaced by loud chatter of groups upon groups of young adults talking. Smiling. They all spoke with grins and reminiscing eyes, laughter and longing filling their tones. To Edd, though, they were nothing but part of the background. He didn't smile, nor did he join along. He walked past everyone, all his former classmates and friends, not stopping to bid anyone even a single glance. He didn't care for them, not anymore. He vowed to push this hideous part of his life behind him, but even someone as hopeful and optimistic as Edd knew that were impossible. Not until one thing was answered. Like a malevolent spirit, he hoped once his prayer was answered he could put this all to rest.

Much too easily he was able to locate what he was looking for. Everything seemed to be silent again, even though he was still resided in the noisy gymnasium. In front of him stood a male the same age as him—twenty three. He was shorter, though, and had very short black hair. His eyes were the same deep chocolate brown as Edd's, and his face was dotted with subtle yet noticeable freckles. Everything about him was just as Edd remembered it. Nothing had changed, only their ages.

"Edd!" the shorter man called, smiling fondly. "It's been a long time!"

"Yes," Edd answered guardedly. "Much too long."

Edd let the other male carry the conversation, letting him recount their old friendship and the many stories they held with each other since childhood. Many of which only he and Edd would remember, and nobody else. Not even Matt. Memories Edd would _like_ to forget, but ones that still lingered in his heart with a bittersweet feeling. Begrudgingly, he admitted they were fun and happy times, but no longer did he want to revere his old friend in that light. He knew the more he forced himself to look into those deep brown eyes and call them innocent was the more he'd just bring pain to himself.

He had forced himself, long ago, to forget these feelings of guilt and sympathy. This man, once a friend, deserved nothing but hate from him. And Edd wasn't afraid to make that clear.

He spoke his friend's name to get his attention, and in an instant he stopped, looking to Edd with wide, hopeful eyes. "We're not friends anymore," he continued on, earning a disbelieving look from the other.

"How can you say that? I know we haven't spoken in _years_ but...we were so close."

"I don't care," Edd hissed back churlishly. "I will never forgive you."

" _Forgive_ me? What did I ever do?"

"You know what you did!" 

Edd couldn't stop the vicious sounding words from tumbling out of his mouth. He grabbed a hold of the other, gripping his arms with his strong hands and tightening them as hard as he could. Knowing his own raw strength, Edd enjoyed every tortured gasp the other boy made. He enjoyed seeing his own knuckles turn white and the fair skin of his ex-friend become red around his grip.

"You're hurting me!" he gasped.

"And you deserve it!" Edd shot back. 

_You don't know what it_ means _to be hurt. You can die, and I'd say you'd deserve it._

"Edd! Edd, stop!" he cried out. Again, Edd took no notice to his plea for mercy. His hands let go of his arms, but only for a fraction of a second before he gripped the other's neck. 

_Nothing you do will ever make me forgive you_ , Edd declared in his mind as his grip tightened around the other's throat.

_And nothing you do will ever change the past._

And then, everything went black.

Edd was left alone in darkness. He couldn't see anything—not the school, not the other people, and not the person whom he was in the midst of killing. Everything was back.

 _This isn't how it usually ends_ , Edd consciously recalled. _What's happening?_

"I'll tell you what's happening," A dark, unintelligible voice spoke to him. Edd couldn't hear the words. A voice, far away but unreachable, rang in his ears. He could not hear them, but he knew, somehow, the words that they were saying to him. "You're dreaming."

"I know," Edd calmly spoke aloud, his chest and throat aching at the immense effort it took to even open his mouth. Everything was suddenly heavy. "Who are you?"

Whoever—or whatever—was speaking to him didn't answer his question. "I've seen you do this many times. Each time different, but always ending the same." Even in the darkness, Edd swore a pair of purple, sharp and human-like eyes were staring right at him. But he couldn't _see_ them. "Is that what you really want?"

When Edd failed to answer, the voice carried on. "You want to kill him?"

"No," Edd truthfully answered, less calm than before. Now, his voice shook with uncertainty. "I just...want him to know how I feel."

"He will never understand." Edd blinked, twisting his head around to try and meet the voice, and yet he could not find it anywhere. "No one will ever understand."

"But why not? I know I'm not the only person in the world who has this problem!" Edd wanted to wail out, but he kept his voice low. The heaviness in his chest becoming more unbearable by the second, and his throat seemed to close up.

"Because your circumstances are unique. No one will ever understand. You will never have the answer."

Edd felt tears drip down his face.

"It hurts," the voice consoled. "But I've seen enough to understand. You don't _need_ to be alone, I can help you, if you wish."

Edd felt a comforting warmth pulsate throughout his veins. One that seemed to lift his chest and clear his throat and mind. "Who are you?"

"I'm closer than you can imagine," he was answered. "And with me, you will always be understood."

With a violent jolt, Edd's eyes snapped open. Sweat trickled down his forehead as pants came to him like hyperventilation. What had he just dreamed about? The first part was nothing new to him, but the second...he could almost "hear" the words in his head still—those silent words. They replayed over and over. 

_I've seen this many times_ , it had said. _I've seen enough to understand._

With another startling jolt, Edd heard knocking against his bedroom door. A voice came from it.

"Hey, Edd. Matt tells me to wake you up—it's past one," it spoke. It was just Tom.

And yet, something about his friend's voice made his chest hurt all over again.


End file.
